Considering such factors, expert researchers of Stanford University have succeeded in implementing a solar cell solely made by carbon under the supervision of Zhenan Bao. This carbon made solar cell has boasted to be less expensive to be manufactured, plus it has great consistency and flexibility which makes it a better option as compared to traditional silicon based cells.
The all-carbon based solar cell consists of a photoactive layer which is meant for catching the sunlight. This photoactive layer made up of carbon nanotubes and Buckyballs is located in between two electrodes. These electrodes are made of graphene and single-walled carbon nanotubes instead of typical silver and indium tin oxide, used in old silicon based cells.
Looking on the other side of the picture, an all-carbon solar cell still needs to be improved when it comes to its efficiency. Since it consumes infrared wavelengths, the efficiency level has been recorded to be less than 1% to what usually solar cells have been offering today.
The team of expert researchers at Stanford is still looking for some useful solutions to overcome the darker side of carbon based cells. The problem can be easily conquered if the nano-materials could absorb different type of wavelengths. Hopefully, we would be using this useful option in most of our electronic devices in the near future.
